


The Quirkless King

by Livvy_london



Series: The Quirkless King and Co. [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Gen, OC characters, OOC Nico, just a little
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-22
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2019-01-21 08:46:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12453777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Livvy_london/pseuds/Livvy_london
Summary: One day, Nico di Angelo arrives in the city, sore and exhausted. He spends the following weeks recovering his strength and building a name for himself in the news. Just as he's about to leave, a situation arises and he needs the help of a certain green-haired boy to defeat it.





	The Quirkless King

**Author's Note:**

> Apologies for any issues with this story. 50% was written in August 2016 when I had the largest interest in BNHA, another 10% in March and the last 40% just in the last month. This was originally part of a collection of short cross-over stories so sorry for any problems if there's something you don't understand. Also if I missed any minute details. I mostly went off my own knowledge and took creative liberty in many places. :)  
> Just FYI... The Interpreter: it is a little contraption that fits in the ear developed by the Hephaestus cabin. It clamps on the bottom of the ear with a speaker snaking into the ear canal and also a thin wire with a microphone clipped above the lips. It's not uncomfortable and in the mist, it takes the appearance of three studs up the side of the ear. Its job is to translate any speaking or listening activities into any language - some crossovers weren't English speaking books or shows.  
> Enjoy friends - I might make a sequel if this goes well.

This was definitely not where he had aimed to get out. Definitely not a dark alleyway filled with bags of rubbish. He lifted his hands to his lips and felt sticky liquid flecked over them. Certainly something wrong here.  
A small girl ran past him clutching her bag to her chest as she hopped over the bottles strewn across the alley. Nico only glanced at her strangely as she dashed by until he heard an angry echo ringing out from around the corner.  
"Don't think you can get away from me you little-" The man rounded the corner inhumanly fast and quickly approached.  
"Identifying language... Japanese." The interpreter's female voice buzzed in his ear and the teen hummed slightly. Nico made a quick decision and shot out his hand to grab the man by his collar as he was about to run past. There was a short choking noise as the front of the man's collar dug into his neck before Nico pulled him off the ground. 

The criminal was about to shout at him for interrupting his little chase before he saw the cold glare that Nico was giving him. Without saying a word he kneed the man in the stomach before punching him in the jaw and dropping the unconscious body into one of the heaps of plastic bags.

Dusting off his hands, he noticed the handbag that the girl had been carrying a few meters away from him. He picked it up and inspected it. Definitely a bit girly but he could imagine it being something Bianca would have enjoyed. Quickly pushing that thought aside, he called out,

"Hey umm.. girl? You dropped your bag." He noticed her peeping out from behind the corner and he gestured for her to come over to him. When she shook her head he sighed a little. Made sense.

"I'm not gonna hurt you." Nico said, trying to sound as friendly as possible which wasn't all the much in reality. "If you want me to I could throw it to you but I don't know if that would go so well." Thinking about it, he could probably throw it. He'd thrown a spear once before, he guessed, but doubted the girl would want her possessions thrown.  
The girl however shook her head vigorously and rounded the corner, not taking her wide eyes off the teen she was looking at. As soon as she got close enough, he carefully passed her her bag before she wrapped herself around his leg and burst into tears.

Stunned, he stood there while she sniffled.  
"Th- th- thank you m- mister mister.." She trailed off as she calmed down. Nico was guiltily reminded of his younger years when he was as childish as that.

"Di Angelo." He finished for her, trying his best to give a friendly smile though he didn't think he clicked well with younger children. 

"Are you a hero mister Di Angelo?" She asked him, her round pink eyes looking into his dark brown ones. Nico pushed aside a momentary thought back to his memories as a child and the campers he had left behind and shrugged off the girls question as a childish fantasy.

"Only if you want me to be. Now, how about I take you out onto the street?"  
The girl nodded, still a little bit shocked as he led her slowly out of the alleyway and onto the pavement. He watched her scurry away quickly, presumably in the direction of her parents and he turned back to try and shadow travel again.

It wasn't long before the shadow travel deposited him in an vacant lot, head spinning. It was very quiet apart from hushed voices that he could hear coming from a broken window.  
Nico quickly vaulted the fence and sneaked into the building. He lightly scaled the steps, making sure to make as little noise as possible, and peered into the dusty room where the two men were conversing. One, the larger by several centimetres in each direct, twirled the blade of a serrated knife in his right hand, bearing down on the other. He was the younger by a large margin and was quaking, backed up against a wall as the murderer approached him. Still standing out of the light, Nico picked up the nearest projectile, the grubby floor providing him with a half empty can of soda, probably long since flat. He tested its weight and launched it towards the criminal. It collided with the man's hand, drawing blood at the knuckle and he dropped his knife in surprise. The weedy adult snatched it up hurriedly, hilt slippery with sticky brown liquid. The murderer however was undeterred. He took a step, injured hand forward to grab the younger's collar. 

At this, the ghost king crouched behind the older man and jerked the collar of his jacket backwards. He lost his balance and careened backwards, his bulk crashing through a wall and stunning him completely on the ground.  
Nico turned to the shaking man in the corner and waved him to the door. When he didn't move Nico gestured more vigorously.  
"Come on, run and call the police or something before he gets up again."  
He returned to clarity at this and nodded to the teen before dashing out the building, dropping the knife and fumbling in his pocket for his mobile. Nico watched him scramble around the gate before turning back to the shrouded corner and prepared to travel again muttering "let this work, let this work".

It seemed to be only seconds before he was forcefully thrown out of the shadows and almost right into a shelf of magazines. Nico's chest hurt and he stifled a few painful coughs, assured now that there was something wrong with his Shadow travel.  
He'd been 'gracefully' deposited at the back end of a small convenience store. He heard angry yelling at the front near the exit where he'd assume the cashier would be.  
Nico crept around the side of the shelving and saw a thug of a man seemingly threatening the lankier cashier behind the desk. Not another one. Maybe his shadow travel was doing this on purpose.  
The cashier spotted him edging around the shelves and his eyes flitted over to Nico for a second. The thug must have seen the look as a sign that the cashier was ignoring him because he slammed his fist down onto the counter as it burst into flames.  
The fire quickly went out but it left a charred circle on the surface of the desk and only smoke wisping off the thug's hand.

"Hurry up and give me the money you dumbass! I know you're hiding it so where is it?!"  
While the man with distracted with his ranting, Nico calmly walked up to him, grabbed him by the hair and slammed his head down onto the table.

He let go of the brute who slumped off the counter and onto the floor, completely dazed and blood running from his nose. While the cashier seemed a bit surprised at what had just happened, Nico merely asked,

"Would you happen to know if there's a money exchanger nearby? Or just someone who's buying gold or jewelry?" He had decided enough was enough with trying to shadow travel today. After all he was tired and hungry.

"Well there's a uh.. small street a few minutes away from here that umm.. buys and sells that sort of thing. Just turn right when you leave a-and just keep going straight." After the man had managed to get that out, Nico turned and left.

\-----

Izuku Midoriya and several of his classmates in class 1A sat in the common-room of their dorms after a long day of school. While the others were munching snacks that they had prepared at the table, the green-haired teen was sitting on the sofa, half listening to the news that was playing on tv and half writing in his notebook.

"In recent news," The male news reporter began. "The same hero has been spotted at 3 different crime scenes across the city in the past hour. He managed to quickly disable the villains and stop a robbery, shoplifting and attempted murder" On the screen behind him there was a map displayed with three dots - one to the far north, another to the mid west and the last in the east, close to the academy. There was also a slightly blurry picture, obviously taken on a cell phone, which showed his body but his face was obscured. The female reporter continued,

"The curious thing about this new hero is that no-one can identify him. He has not shown any sign of a quirk, the name he had given, Di Angelo, is not in any school records and he is not registered for a hero license. As of current, police are on the lookout to bring him into custody. Citizens are encouraged to notify the police if you see him."

"No quirk or school records, huh? That's uncommon." Remarked Jirou, who sat at the table with a small plate of crisps.  
Opposite her, Shouto was peeling an orange as he looked over at the screen.

"And no hero license. That's probably the only reason he's getting any coverage for stopping just three villains. Everyone knows better than to try and be a hero without a hero license - you could go to jail for that." He added and Jirou nodded. Iida looked up from his books and said,

"He must have a good reason for it. Now that he's been penned down as someone who's violated the rules, he won't be easily able to apply for school or get a career. Even as part of the 20% who haven't got a quirk, the police won't go easy on him. Or maybe it'll be the opposite. Displaying such a bold attitude is bound to get him support as a hero or sidekick." The others at the table hummed their agreements.  
Meanwhile, Izuku had started muttering again as he scribbled into his book.  
"Mutter So if he's quirkless Mutter Or is he not showing it Mutter No special moves Mutter Mutter Enhanced strength? Mutter Needs a license Mutter Is he foreign? Mutter I have to leave space for extra stuff Mutter Mutter." He muttered to himself, already halfway through his sketch of the hero and starting to write notes on the side.

\-----

After several weeks of healing up with small portions of ambrosia and nectar, Nico felt that just it was just a few more days before he'd be fully functioning - he was incredibly annoyed already at how long it had taken him to recover.

He ran quickly through the streets, moving fast and trying not to look anyone in the eye in case they recognised him by his face or clothes. Nico's hand hovered over the sword that he had concealed at his belt as he ran but he didn't pull it out yet or he might frighten someone.

People notice my actions more than if I was actually back home in America, he realizes as he thinks back to the criminals he'd come across and taken out in the past few weeks. Like there's no mist. But people don't panic at all, just stop and watch like they see that everyday. I'd better be careful if I don't want to get picked up by authorities.

He was dashing after a sentient stream of water that flowed just in front of him. In its current a wet set of clothes drifted as well as hoards of gold rings, silver necklaces and gems. The cold water splashed on passerby shoes and trousers and up ahead the crowd on the shopping street parted. As he passed, a couple whoops and camera clicks where sent his way.

At the end of the high street, he ran into a cordoned off area and skidded to a stop sending a stray stone skittering. A line of strangely costumed adults stood behind a bright barrier of light that sizzled the water as it tried to pass. The water changed shape bending upwards, its centre swirling like a whirlpool spinning the rings around. The soaked shorts and shirt surfaced around the edges of the form which was shaping back into a broad-shouldered man.

Nico stood with his feet slightly apart and tried to concentrate on manipulating the riches inside. He wasn't nearly as good as his half-sister and felt like a fool staring holes into the criminals back.  
"Mr Nico di Angelo~!" A series of girly squeals called out behind him and caught the attention of the villain. 

Mizuki Gogyou had expected no resistance in robbing an old gold and jewellery seller in the corner of the small commercial centre. However, Nico di Angelo had arrived at the shop door mere moments after the robber had left, with enough time to pursue the criminal whose pockets and body were heavy with riches. He looked at the child in hatred at his ruined plan.

The ghost king noticed the slow turning motion and the jostling of the jewellery and thought fast.  
"Hey, kid!" One of the adults, a woman wearing a modified bike helmet, yelled. "Leave him to us!" However, the towering whirlpool was storming towards Nico. He turned his attention to one his other weaker skills that he had spent some time recently practising.  
The ground under Mizuki's feet and even the surrounding began to warp. Gaps between pavement slabs widened and mud and rock began to rise upwards. It pooled like a thick cloud in the water, spreading up between his toes, through his calves and thighs. As it reached his stomach, Mizuki lifted his shirt and ran a watery hand through it. It was an attempt to slow the mud's rise but only swished the dirt faster, upwards into his chest, causing him to cough wetly (not that that's saying much when his entire breathing system is made of water anyway).  
He tried to step away from the rising ground but found his body almost rigid with the weight. Nico ceased his focus and the adults, while not quite linking Nico to what had transpired, sensed that the event was over and took the opportunity to approach Mizuki and apprehend him. Di Angelo took that same opportunity to jump onto a window ledge of a nearby building and use the pipes to scale the side. He passed a couple standing at the window, the young woman excitedly filming him horizontally on her mobile. He humorously sent them a two-finger salute before scrambling up the rest of the pipe's length. 

Kagami Fukusho was lounging on the adjacent rooftop when he spotted the dark haired boy pull himself into the roof. Kagami worked a relatively simple life for a quirk-era man - the twenty five year old had spent most of his high school and adult life at the computer, coding games. His current project involved some research on his own part about some of the ancient civilisations and it was giving him a throbbing headache. From his plastic fold-out chair he looked up at the stars and chewed the sticky gum he seemed to be addicted to.  
Upon sighting the teen, he straightened up and turned his body to match his orientation before activating his quirk. Kagami's quirk 'mirror' was by no means a practical quirk. It gave him the ability to stay at the exact distance from the target without fail and copy their movement perfectly while only tiring the target. As a child he had never found good use for it - it always resulted in crashing into walls or falling into ditches and Kagami had realised at an early age it wasn't exactly hero-worthy and had given up quickly on the dream most people followed.  
In this case, he was merely bored. He figured if he was about to fall over somewhere he could just disable the effect. He vaguely recognised the figure and was racking his brains to figure it out when a swirling, sickening blackness consumed him. 

He lurched forward at the destination still copying Nico, who was doing such because of the unexpected strain of carrying an extra passenger. Kagami quickly disabled his quirk to avoid falling face-first into the road but still clanged his head against a metal stop sign. Di Angelo turned to the noise but in the twilight, he couldn't see very far along the residential street. He shrugged and stepped forward into the light by the door and swung it open as he had left it entirely unlocked.  
Catching the boy basked in full light the disorientated programmer recognised Di Angelo's face from the Tv and online videos he had been watching. He had been a mix of jealous and proud towards the young man who seemed to be able to achieve a goal Kagami himself had given up on long ago.  
As Nico retreated inside the house, Kagami pulled out his phone and pushed in three digits.  
"Hello? Yes, I believe I have some information on Nico di Angelo..."

\-----

Nico was on his way back to the empty apartment he had found. To his knowledge, no-one knew he was in there and he was careful not to leave behind any sort of trail so he felt confident as he put down his near-empty bag in the hallway and waltzed into the still dark living space. Perhaps his fight with Mizuki the previous day had left him tired and more relaxed than normal because he didn't notice the other presences in the room until it was flooded with light, blinding him. Darn it.

As his other shadows in the room fled behind the big showroom lights, the only ones that stayed were quivering beneath his feet and he concentrated on moving it over his sword to keep it concealed, since he couldn't travel away with such a small shadow. With all the bright lights he could see the people who had trapped him but one of them called out,  
"Don't move or we'll shoot. We only want to.." but by that time Nico had tuned out and was trying to get his eyes adjusted to the bright lights. Just as he was lifting his hand up to shield his eyes, he heard a click and felt a stinging sensation in the back of his hand. Looking at it, he saw a little plastic capsule sticking out. Some nervous, probably new recruit had jumped the gun and had fired a dart at him. Nico hastily pulled it out and sent it clattering on the floor before sending a glare in the direction it came from. After a few second of silence, he called out,

"So is anyone going to do anything? I'm getting tired standing around." A reply came quickly.  
"We'd like you to answer our questions, di Angelo. Then we'll see about taking you into custody."  
Nico wasn't too impressed with that answer but gestured for them to continue.  
"Go ahead, shoot." No-one said anything for another few silent seconds and he realised that that probably wasn't the best thing to say in a situation where there were armed men who thought he was dangerous. Perhaps the dart has injected him with something that was making his brain slow.

"Oh. It's just something we say where I'm from. I mean, go ahead and ask me the questions. And give me something to sit on." Soon they threw him an empty cardboard box and the questioner started and Nico could just make his silhouette out behind the lights.

"What is your name and date of birth?" He asked flatly.

"Nico di Angelo and January 28th, 1924." The questioner huffed disbelievingly and scribbled down something in his notebook but didn't comment. Nico had been juggling the idea of saying his real birthday against his realistic birthday in the 90s and was visibly startled by the investigator’s lack of reaction.

"And your place of birth?"

"Italy." Nico said before adding, "but I haven't lived there for a while." The questioner hummed at this and noted it down. He was surprised at the amount of co-operation from di Angelo after they had pegged him as a law breaker. Perhaps he hadn't seen the news coverage of himself in the newspaper, online or on tv. He'd been able to gain a terrifying amount of support from the population over the past few weeks.

"You have yet to show your quirk and we need it down on record. Please show us or describe it to me." Nico had no idea what the questioner was talking about. Quirk? What was that? Is it an object?  
It dawned on him slowly as he thought back to when he had first come here and noticed the strange things about all the criminals he knocked out. So is that what it was - superhuman powers. Apparently they were so common this country had given the abilities a name. At least they hadn't named them after a soft drink or something stupid like that.

"Oh. I don't have one." Nico said simply, sidestepping the question, and the man nodded as if he had expected that.

"And where did you get your costume? There's no record of your design or modification at the committee which is suspicious." The questioner continued and Nico could see him pointing at his jacket and the earphone sticking out of his right ear. Nico was a bit confused at that.

"My costume? Do you mean my clothes? I wear them all the time. I just got them from a regular shop." The man watching him just scribbled that down.

"And finally, your hero license. You aren't registered in the system under Di Angelo or any similar name. You should know that trying to combat crime under the guise of a hero is illegal." Nico was pretty miffed - it was like he was travelling through dimensions than just across the globe. It wasn't his fault his shadow travel took him to random places with weird rules just because he didn't tell it a particular place to go. Or maybe it was his fault.

"Well, actually, I didn't know that. I didn't even know there were heroes or hero licenses. I've certainly not seen many people, 'hero' or not, stepping in to do something significant and help others." He exclaimed, huffing and crossing his arms over his chest.

"Even if you weren't aware, it’s still a crime and we need to detain you and bring you into custody. The normal sentence for someone like you who has intervened with many situations as you have is two years but as a foreigner, we can move that down to a minimum of 18 months." The man talking to Nico said before nodding to his right. A separate, rougher voice spoke up,  
"Team Tiger, team wolf move in. Team cub stays on alert. Go."  
Seeing soldiers move out of the shadows and into the light of the floodlights made Nico stand up, his heel catching on the box and bringing it up by an inch and revealing an empty inside shrouded in shadow. Nico noticed this and smiled widely. Finally, an escape route.

"I'm sorry guys but I have places to go and times to be there so I'll see you all later." He took a moment to take in the questioners confused face before shoving his foot into the box and disintegrating into shadows.

Luckily for him, Nico managed to travel to roughly where he wanted to go - a near-empty street away from the centre of town where he wouldn't be disturbed by enquiring police officers. He quickly realised that his bag had been left at the house with the majority of his healing food and drink. Nico wasn't too concerned about losing that stash - he still had plenty tucked into his inside jacket pockets which would last him. It was just the thought of someone taking that bag and possibly eating the stuff in there. Then he reasoned that the authorities wouldn't eat something suspicious and let that thought leave his mind.  
He quickly crept into one of the empty houses and, feeling tired, lay himself down for a nap.

\-----

The following day he decided to leave, but not before replacing his backpack. So he travelled himself over to a small store, reasoning that they'd have some small backpacks in stock. He soon picked a small, dark grey bag, slung it over one shoulder and wandered over to the news racks. Much like the last place he'd visited, most of it was unreadable apart from a few brand names that he recognised written in English. Nico sighed. The 'interpreter' worked well enough for speaking and listening but he felt the Hephaestus cabin should move quickly to make something that could help him read before he got himself into trouble.

He had started to turn away when he noticed a picture on the front of one of the newspapers about mid-level. It was a small picture of his face, probably taken from the ambush the previous night, in the top right-hand corner of the front page with the English words "Di Angelo" written above and smaller letters below, probably indicating to turn to an inside page.  
Nico picked up the paper and scanned through the pages slowly, just about noticing a shorter teen strolling up beside him and picked up a copy of the same newspaper. He had an explosion of dark green hair and seemed overly excited as soon as he saw Nico's face on the cover and he flicked right to the main article.

Nico peered over as the excited kid unconsciously began to mutter the text out loud.

"Di Angelo, the apparently quirkless, licenseless hero, was apprehended by police forces and questioned before managing to escape.  
After a tip-off from an anonymous citizen, three teams of officers, as well as an investigator, intercepted Di Angelo late last night at the abandoned building where he was staying.  
Police questioned him for 15 minutes, but before they could take him into custody, he vanished. This fact has led some to believe that Di Angelo does, in fact, have a quirk, despite his claim that he does not. However, if it is indeed a teleportation quirk, then it is questionable that he only vanished after the questioning.  
His current location is not yet determined and any information on him should be reported to the police."

Underneath that story, there was another photo taken during the questioning. It showed most of him as he stood, from the knee upwards, and next to it was written some more words - seemingly ordered like a fact file. The green-haired boy continued reading through the article.

"Full name: Nico di Angelo. Date of Birth: Pre-Warring era birth records confirm it as 1924, however, his apparent age is 15. Quirk: Claims to be quirkless but has been suspected of having a teleportation quirk or accomplices with such. Has no recorded living relatives or place of residence." After reading the article the boy lapsed into silence and Nico folded up the newspaper he was holding and putting it back on the rack.  
"Some story, right?" He joking asked the kid who only nodded in agreement, obviously distracted. He turned to the counter in order to pay for his Items when Izuku pulled himself out of his thoughts to look at the man who'd talked to him.  
"Ah sorry! I was distracted, what did you say?" The older teen turned back around and smiled slightly down at him.  
"Well... Ah, nevermind." Izuku just nodded and turned back the article on Nico di Angelo. Then back to the retreating form and back to the picture of Nico looking out at him from the middle of the page. Dark jacket. Dark hair. Dark eyes.  
Izuku quickly shoved the newspaper under his arm and rushed over to Nico who was dealing out coins into the counter.  
"Excuse me! Are you Nico di Angelo? Like, the one in the news?" Nico looked over at the kid.  
"Yeah, I guess. Who's asking?" Izuku was a little surprised by Nico's straightforwardness.  
"Oh, I'm Izuku, a first-year at Yuuei academy."  
Nico just nodded at turned back to counting his coins on the counter.  
"Well, Nico." Izuku started, trying to recatch the older boy's attention, "I've been wanting to ask-" Any further words were drowned out by an ear-piercing siren that rang for a long 5 seconds. Once the ringing in Nico's ears vanished he ran to the door, closely followed by Izuku, as another alarm rang out.  
"A villain has been spotted roaming around the close vicinity. We urge you all the return to and stay in your homes."  
The voice screeched and Nico grimaced.  
"Does that happen often?" He asked Izuku, turning around to face him. He shook head.  
"Must be pretty bad for there to be an alarm." Nico sprinted through the doors and out into the deserted street with Izuku following close behind.  
"I was just about to leave the country but I guess I'll have to get rid of this monster first." He told his green-haired companion while he adjusted the Interpreter.  
"Wait! Sir! You left your coins on the counter!" Called the shopkeeper from the inside of the shop.

"It's to pay for the bag and the newspaper." Nico called back as he launched himself down the road. "Keep the change." 

The shopkeeper watched the pair leave, scratching his head.

"So Mr di Angelo... where are we going?" Yelled Izuku as he chased after the tall dark runner in front of him. Nico was not as out of breath and quickly replied,  
"Obviously we're going to where the crime is. And call me Nico, it's less of a mouthful."  
"Alright, Mr Nico." Called out Izuku to him, grinning a little at the miffed look that got thrown his way.

"Are you really over 300 years old? That's even before quirks were found." He continued as they rounded a corner.  
"Depends on who you ask." He replied simply, then quickly held up a hand to quiet him as he spotted the cause of the problem up ahead.

The green haired boy didn't seem to get the hint. "Depends-"  
Nico let out an irritated hiss and roughly pushed his hand against the boy's mouth, stunning him to silence.  
"Can't you see we have to be quiet?" he ground out and Izuku sent him an apologetic look.  
Around the edge, a small pack of red-headed giggling women stood surrounding a pair of young teens splayed out on the ground. Empousai.  
Guess no matter where you'll go, you'll always find trouble.  
The tallest stood on the back of one teen who groaned as a golden heel pierced his back. The other, a curly-haired boy, tried to scramble backwards, clutching at the stump of his elbow which was bleeding heavily. The shortest empousa held the dismembered arm up to her mouth, gnawing at the skin while her partners laughed. The woman on her right pulled off a few fingers from the hand and began munching loudly, her sharp teeth showing white against the red of blood.  
Farther down the line of houses were another pair of empousai, dragging unconscious (or possibly dead) men towards a large tarp lined with a drawstring. 

A few comments drifted up towards Nico's ears -  
"This one's flesh is really tender"  
"Yeah and I like curly-head's tangy taste"  
"No body hair really makes it worth killing the young ones"

Nico tried to peer through the mist the see what the terrified mortal would be seeing but was surprised to see there was next to no change.  
Izuku standing slightly to the right of Nico tried to read the concentration and calculating expression on the ghost king's face. Nico turned back to him and looked him once over. Midoriya's loose shirt and shorts didn't show off much and in Nico's eyes, he seemed a little wiry.  
He talked to Izuku in a hushed tone,  
"Do you think you can think for yourself?"  
"Yes, why?" Came the reply.  
"And you're fit enough to do some running and carrying?"  
"Huh? Of course. Now tell me why."  
"Hey. Have you saved someone before?"  
"Mr Di Angelo. I go to Yuuei academy to study this. The hero academy. Saving people is what I want to do for the rest of my life."  
Nico looked away slightly and muttered what sounded close to -so they really are heroes then- before turning back to the shorter teen and gesturing him to step closer to the corner.  
Izuku glanced down the street and spotted the empousai as well. He almost leapt into action immediately but was pulled back by a firm grip on his shirt collar.  
"I'll let you go in a second but first, isn't there a law against helping people without a hero license?" Nico stumbled a little at 'hero license' but Izuku only nodded a little sheepishly.  
"Okay, so let me take out the two ladies at the back and then you grab the man in the circle and book it away from here before any cops arrive. There's far too many of them so I'll take out as many as I can before I lead them to back up."  
"I can do that. You'll run across licensed backup really soon, the city is full of heroes." Izuku nodded confidently.  
Nico gave his best encouraging smile (which wasn't saying much) but Izuku still smiled tightly back.  
A quick thumbs up from Nico and then he stepped backwards, melting into the shadows and causing the shorter boy to nearly jump out of his skin.  
Nico reappeared within the shrouded alleyway close to where the distant empousai had been standing. Now they were much closer, only a few metres from where he crouched, busy with their dragging. The ghost king kicked at an empty bottle. The noise immediately attracted the attention of the closest empousa who turned towards the sound. She said something to the other who laughed before she strutting into the darkness of the alleyway. A misjudged step sent a few cans clattering and she tripped toward Nico. He instinctively brought his dagger and with a quick jab to her neck, the empousa disintegrated into a fine gold dust. 

"I hope you haven't run off to let me do this job alone!" The empousa called as she stepped into the narrow, rubbish-strewn corridor. 

In the darkness, Nico delivered a quick stab to her back and she disappeared with a hint of confusion on her face.  
Deku was pleased to see none of the weird women had noticed their partner's disappearance and he prepped himself for retrieving the boy quickly losing consciousness in the circle.  
Nico appeared from the alley causing several empousai heads to swivel in his direction. He was trying to best intimidate the snarling group, trying a technique he had seen his father use on many occasions in his hall. 

He was working on what he remembered by sight but he seemed to have an instinctive grasp of the aura releasing. Izuku at the other end of the road shivered and the women fell silent for a moment. His drawn sword attracted their focus and their leader nodded, smiling widely at the rest of the girls. Her attractive denim shorts displayed not-so-attractive long legs - the grey-brown and bronze swished as she strutted forward towards the shorter teen.  
"Ah, we have a demigod over here in this dimension?" She let out a loud bleating laugh. "I'd say I'm surprised but you are a son of Hades."

She stopped just out of sword reach of the younger keeping her eyes trained on him. A few of the empousai licked their lips at the prospect of demigod meat and inched away from the two unconscious boys. The flash of wild green hair as he picked up both the boys brought a shriek from an empousa whose peripheral vision was still on the two victims. All the empousai turned to the sound, even the leader. The momentary alarm allowed Nico to dash forward and jab towards her neck - she leaned out the way in time to avoid a fatal wound but a deep oozing gash formed at her jawline.  
Selfishly saving her own hide, she flashed away in a blaze of flame, hand up to her face.

One teen under each arm, Izuku wall-jumped between the two sides of a narrow gap between buildings. The first was merely knocked out and coming to with Midoriya's sudden movement. The other was pale and Izuku ripped a strip of his shirt hem to wrap tightly around the wound - it hadn't been a special occasion and the top was old but he still apologised to his mum as he worked on the tourniquet, for the ruined shirt. He adjusted the teen's position in his arms supporting his back and legs before peering over the edge of the roof to check on Nico.

"We'll skin you, son of Hades! Then we'll eat your juicy self alive!" The apparent second-in-command, evident from the matching denim shorts, screeched and the rest of them leapt after her in close pursuit. He briskly swung his sword a few more times piercing one's stomach before jumping backwards and running.

A few minutes later, Nico dashed past some stores and recognised the shop where had knocked out the robber on the first day he had arrived. Izuku following as closely behind as possible without burning out realised that they were nearing UA academy and from his spot on the rooftops he could see some teachers and students milling around in the courtyard. He beelined in that direction, passing over Nico and his pursuers in one bound before dropping down to ground level a dozen metres ahead of the ghost king, trying not to jostle the curly haired boy. He gestured urgently for Nico to follow and they both sprinted off, the taller just behind. Izuku channelled a little more power to his legs and felt the skin blister a little as he stormed ahead of the group for the final stretch. 

Nico skidded around a corner placing a hand on the floor to steady himself, scratching a layer of skin off the palm. A quick glance back saw the empousai were close. He guided his focus to the tip of his sword and swung it into the pavement sending a long deep crack snaking across the ground. Most of the empousai sidestepped out the way but one of the slowest tripped, tipping forward into the cavern and knocking her head on a jagged rock. She immediately disintegrated, the pause leaving time for Nico to gain a head start before the empousai turned on him again with renewed vigour. 

Midoriya leapt through the gate with the boy in his arms and dashed over to where a disgruntled teacher with a torn white scarf around his neck stood to watch some sparring students. Nico sprinted to do the same and reach their support but just before, he crumpled against an invisible force and was sent careening backwards. His face covered in blood and head spinning, he stumbled towards the wall with his hand out. He gingerly felt at the invisible barrier, each touch sending a stinging sensation up his skin. 

Having reached the practice ring, one of his fellow classmates took the unconscious teen off Izuku and began running towards the medical bay. Izuku turned to check Nico was just behind and spotted him bloody-faced with one hand on the UA barrier... He'd forgotten the UA barrier!!

Eraserhead turned to him eyebrow raised at Midoriya's blood-stained t-shirt.  
"Midoriya, what are-" Is all he managed to get out before the green haired teen panicked, yelling out,  
"Mr di Angelo!!" Di Angelo? Like the quirkless boy from the papers? He thought as he swivelled to the direction that the teen was staring. The teacher spotted him instantly grabbing at the wall with a pack of angry fire-headed women drawing closer.  
"They were murdering men along Hanagawa street. So Nico got them to chase him so he can get them to some heroes. If we don't help, they'll kill him." Midoriya explained shakily. Eraser nodded once and called loudly for the third years across the grounds and the teachers accompanying them. 

Nico ignored the painful tingling racing across his fingers as he felt along the wall's surface. It felt like a normal brick wall under his fingertips, depressed lines of cement between each brick and cracked with marks where over time many faces had undoubtedly bashed in. He dug his fingers into the surface and hoisted himself up. He heard the empousai's heavy breathing close by and continued climbing as fast as he could we didn't seem nearly fast enough. The quick empousa who led the pack leapt upwards at the wall, ultimately falling but first scratching a deep line with a sharp nail into the sole of his boots that he could feel had pierced his skin and was slowly pooling blood. 

Nico closed his eyes tightly and concentrated on lifting himself up arm over arm, hand over hand. The surface seemed to curve beneath his body and climbing eased. Soon enough, he was at a 45-degree angle and turned his body to lie splayed out on the barrier, breathing heavily. He barely felt the shocks the wall was trying to give his back over his muscle ache and relief. He looked down to see if he could spot anyone taking out the empousai. They were red swirling specks on the ground far below and Nico's heart leapt into his throat. Scrambling up to his feet he felt dizzy and terrified, unable to breathe from fear. A heavy footstep on the invisible surface sent him stumbling backwards and Nico was barely able to register a tiny voice calling up "Calm down Mr di Angelo!" before he began to fall.  
Uraraka Ochako was whistling quietly, eyes peacefully shut, as she swung a shopping bag filled with half-price offers that she had picked up from the corner shop. A few metres from the school gate she heard shouts and opened her eyes to come across a scene of mayhem. Her shopping bag clanked loudly against the pavement. 

Women with fire red hair, baring sharp fangs were paired off with what Uraraka recognised as the older students. They were fighting a close battle, sometimes a UA student would retreat to swap out with another or one of the vampire-women would fly backwards, disappearing in a shower of gold dust. Her attention turned to Izuku standing inside the walls of the school and noticed his heavily bruised forelegs. He was yelling frantically at something above her head and she looked up to see what it was.  
In a moment of pure instinct, she activated her quirk and shot upwards. As she neared the body falling towards her, she had a surreal moment of nostalgia and was reminded of one of her first experiences with Izuku when she had caught him in the entrance exam. Uraraka caught the falling teen and after stopping him, began to descend both of them downwards. She recognised the quirkless hero whose exploits had been publicised extensively in the news over the past few weeks and took a moment to look over his crumpled clothes and  
Nico opened his eyes cautiously and glanced at the ground before quickly refocusing on the girl's smiling face. She began to let him go confident he wouldn't fall under the effect of her quirk but he quickly grabbed two fistfuls of her shirt sleeve and gripped tightly. Noticing this brought an embarrassed blush to his saviour's face, he disentangled his fingers and apologised.  
"Don't like heights Mr di Angelo?" She asked politely as they drifted slowly downwards.  
"Nico please." He replied, "I hate them. It's sort of a family thing." She held onto the corner of his jacket collar to calm him and smiled.  
"I'm not a fan of them either - they make me feel sick. Did you read about yourself in the news? You're famous citywide. Not just from that first news story but also that video of you fighting the villain Mizuki."  
"I figured it out after I nearly got arrested yesterday." He smirked. "No, I got it when some girls screamed my name as I was passing last week. I only saw an article when I met this boy Izuku who was reading the newspaper and the story was about me.”  
"Oh? You know him? He's in my class."  
"Yeah. It ended up with a whole spiel fighting a pack of man-eating women." They finally touched down and Uraraka reverted the effect of her gravity quirk. Only a few empousai remained and one empousa in a floral dress snarled at him before disappearing into a wall of flame.

"Seems like it's all clear to go now." He spoke aloud to himself, shaking off any remaining tinges of fear. He inspected his palms, the soles were red and the fingertips blackened slightly. He reached into his jacket pocket and broke off a few crumbs of ambrosia, popping them in his mouth and chewing on the soothing taste. 

Ochako noticed him turning away towards a shadow-shrouded wall and dashed forward to stop him.  
"Wait di Angelo! You can't leave yet!"  
"Of course I can. Why not?" He looked back over his shoulder, shooting her a wry smile.  
"Well first, are you a time traveller or something? What's it like in the pre-quirk era?" She asked, gesticulating wildly.  
"I'm not a time traveller," Nico reassured. At least I don't think I am right now. "Maybe I'll come back here sometime if you'd like me to?" He was feeling quite grateful to the shorter girl for saving his butt and was quickly running out of ways to repay her.  
"Sure. Deku'll be really grateful if you'd did. We'll make sure together that the police don't get to you if you give us some answers." The interpreter didn't seem to like that word and clicked a little in his ear making him wince.  
"Deku?"  
"Oh, it's just Izuku's nickname."  
"Right." He replied simply as the aforementioned boy neared the pair. Nico also noted the wiry teacher's movement towards the building group and felt a peculiar need to leave briskly. He slightly waved one hand, swivelling around and stepping fully into the wall's darkness. He felt the eager pull of strong shadows at his legs and dived in, willing them to return him back to camp.

\----- The end...? -----

"Nico di Angelo, the so-called 'quirkless king' has not been spotted in the past three weeks since his disappearance near the prestigious UA Academy where he was spotted by many climbing the UA barrier.  
The internet nicknamed the teen the 'Ghost King', from his pale appearance and historical background that dates his birth to over 90 years before the start of the modern-era.  
The contents of his bag have been determined highly poisonous and have been placed under maximum security at the security centre for further investigation and safe-keeping.  
At the site of the would-be massacre, a 1-metre statue has been funded by the civilians he has saved. A self-defence gym for the quirkless population has been established along the same street by the Urokukichi family whose son lost his left arm in the incident.  
Di Angelo made a sensation for the month-long period he was in the city but it seems his remembrance will last much longer.  
Onto other news..."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. Leave a message if you enjoyed!  
> if you couldn't tell, I love Japanese name meanings but I made them simple for the Oc's - Mizuki Gogyou is basically Water-spirit Water and Kagami Fukusho is Mirror Copy so yeah :D


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